Day of Defeat started life as a WWII mod for Half Life, played by lesser numbers than the famous Counter Strike, but still incredibly popular. Activision have taken the online shooter and polished it into a stand-alone retail gem. The story is simple, choose to be either a soldier from Axis or Allies and fight over territory until a set number of points have been gained. The differences with the freely available mod are clear: easy set-up, no need to own Half-Life, superb sound effects, updated and glorious graphics. Set-up of the game is simple: install, load up the game, connect to the servers and choose one with a suitable ping rate (a lower number is better) and you should be playing within 10 minutes of opening the box. The game itself is bound to be compared with the excellent Battlefield 1942, DOD does however play in a different way. It is a more tactical and tense game, there are none of the massive expanses of 1942 and no vehicles, the maps are urban in setting (even the forest maps feel urban) and each nook, cranny, door and window could hide an enemy waiting to snipe as you run past. Weapon selection plays a very important part, from the easily held MP-40 machine guns and sniper rifles to the heavy Bren machine guns; each one needs to be used in a tactically different way. An example is that there's no way you'll be able to storm into a room and target enemies with the heavy guns: try and shoot on the move with a Bren and the simulated kick back will shoot all over the place--very realistic. Battlefield 1942 might come out on top as the definitive WWII multi-player games as it has a single-player mode for offline play, but if you enjoy online battles you'll enjoy Day of Defeat too. --Laurent S Hall